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Friday, May 31, 2013

Amongst many
untold stories of Ramayan, the myth of Mahiravan and Ahiravan is one such
story. Untold, as they get added in due course of time, or are specific to a
culture while they remain unimportant for many. We will analyse this later, but
first the story.

After, Ravan
lost his brave son Indrajeet in the battle, he was crestfallen. His mother met
him and reminded him of what he had done to his family and how he was wrong but
his arrogance was not allowing him to see through the web woven by him. Ravan
was not willing to listen to anything and from anybody.

Before leaving,
his mother reminded him of one of his sons (some texts refer to him as
brother), Mahiravan, who was ruling in the Patala-loka,
or the underworld. Mahiravan had initially decided not to be a part of the
battle, as he did not agree with the kidnapping of Sita. Mahiravan was the
master of occult and was a devotee of Goddess Kali. Ravan managed to convince
Mahiravan by telling him that if he could offer Ram and Lakshman as a sacrifice
to the Goddess Kali, she would be happy.

When news of
Mahiravan’s joining the battle reached the army of Ram, they were worried,
especially Vibhishan, Ravan’s brother. Vibhishan knew about Mahiravan’s
abilities to change forms due to his mastery in sorcery. He warned all to
ensure that Ram and Lakshman were guarded well and appointed Hanuman to
ensure that none got in the cottage of Ram and Lakshman. Hanuman created a
shield by his tail, around the cottage where the two were resting and ensured
that none could break the barricade.

Mahiravan tried
many forms but could not pass through. At last, he assumed the form of
Vibhishan and approached Hanuman. He asked him to be allowed in, just to ensure
that Ram and Lakshman were fine. Hanuman, allowed him to pass without realising
that he had just breached the security created by him. As soon as Mahiravan got
in the cottage, he cast a spell on both Ram and Lakshman, and took them deep
inside the ground. By the time Hanuman and Vibhishan could realise, they were
gone. Vibhishan was very worried as he knew what could be the fate of the two.
He urged Hanuman to do something.

Vibhishan
explained that the two were taken deep inside the ground in the patala-loka and Hanuman should go the
same way. The adventures of Hanuman in the patal-loka
are interesting, but we will not get into the details of it. It is said that
when Hanuman reached the patal-loka,
it seemed to be a city by itself, with forts and fortresses and guards at every
point. After eliminating all opposition on his way, he met one, who seemed to be
quite a match for him. This character is known as Makardwaj. We will discuss Makardwaj in the next
part of this article.

On his way to
the patala-loka, Hanuman had heard
that Mahiravan was going to sacrifice Ram and Lakshman to the Goddess Kali in
return for more occult powers. The myth gets interesting here.

Hanuman takes
the form of a small bee and approaches the goddess Kali. He asks her, if she
wanted the blood of Ram. Kali is supposed to have said that she would rather
have the blood of Mahiravan, than that of Ram. She then goes on to suggest a
way out, which Hanuman whispers in the ears of Ram. Ram and Lakshman were
readied for the sacrifice and at the auspicious time, Mahiravan asks Ram to put
his head on the sacrificial altar and ready himself for the sacrifice. Ram
said, that he had been a Kshatriya, a warrior, all his life and had never known
how to bow in front of anyone, could Mahiravan show him how to bow? Mahiravan
was irritated and tried to demonstrate. No sooner had he done that, Hanuman who
was hiding behind the idol of Goddess Kali, assumes his form, takes the
sacrificial blade and beheads Mahiravan. Thus Ram and Lakshman were saved. He
then offered the blood of Mahiravan to the goddess.

Another
interesting version adds that killing Mahiravan was not going to be that
simple. His life was distributed in five different flames around the temple. If
one flame was extinguished, it would come up again; so the flames had to be
blown off all together to kill him. To achieve this task, Hanuman took the form
of Panch-mukhi, or five-faced. By
doing this, he could blow all the flames together, thus killing Mahiravan.

Matters don’t
end here. Mahiravan’s wife was pregnant and it is said that when she came to
know about the death of her husband, she joined the fight. In the commotion
that is unleashed, Hanuman’s kick lands on her stomach and out comes their
child, Ahiravan, ready to fight. Ahiravan is full of blood and mucous, and was
tough to get hold of and was proving to be quite a tough match. Hanuman manages
to throw some mud on him, gets his hand on Ahiravan’s limbs and dashes the
child on the ground, killing him instantly.

Hanuman then
carries both Ram and Lakshman back to the battle field.

This myth is
found mainly in the Ramayans of the East, especially in the Bengali version by
Krittibash, the passage better known as ‘Mahirabonerpala’.
The involvement of Goddess Kali and the occult practices find a mention in the
epic here. Also, Kali plays a positive role here and asks for the blood of
Mahiravan. There are many aspects to this myth –

Both Hanuman and
Mahiravan seem to have similar powers to change forms as we have seen, but both
use it for different reasons. Hanuman’s role of the killer and a blood-thirsty
one at that, especially the way the child Ahiravan is killed bears testimony to
the tantric angle to this myth. A very different form of Hanuman, which has rarely
been seen. Hanuman has always been portrayed in a submissive, but brave and
strong disciple of Ram. Such violent form has seldom been portrayed, and this
could be region or even audience specific.

The entire myth goes
on to highlight the importance of Hanuman. In the entire episode, there has
been no role in terms of action from Ram and Lakshman. Very clearly this is a
myth which goes on to add heroic credentials to Hanuman.

Many also see
this as an aspect of ‘myth-making’ to justify the creation of the Panch-mukhi Hanuman, akin to creating
the means, to justify the end. An important aspect of this Panch-mukhi Hanuman is the five faces. The five faces are that of
Hanuman himself, and the other four being that of Hyagriva (horse), Varaha and
Narasimha, all three being forms of Lord Vishnu and the final being that of
Garuda, again a vahana of Vishnu. In
this myth, Hanuman is given the importance of Lord Vishnu himself, which makes
him at par with his Lord! While this is strange, such comparisons are not
unheard of.

Also, keeping
with the theme of the Bengali version of the epic, Ram plays a very passive
role. A similar underlying theme can be found in the other neighbouring
versions, like the Oriya, Assamese, etc. In the actual text, Ram is shown as
crestfallen and is even scared at his predicament, when he is about to be
sacrificed, a far cry from many other versions of the epic where he is the
dynamic hero who gives the war cry.

Many scholars
have opined that this has a folktale motif and has blended well in the epic. The
changing of forms, sacrifices at the altar of Goddess Kali, etc. are very
common folktale motifs in the East. The twist of the ‘sacrificer’ getting sacrificed
is also a common folktale element, which highlights that gods don’t support
their ardent devotees if they take the wrong path.

All in all, a
very interesting myth.

Next time, we will continue this
one with reference to Makardhwaj….. Keep reading…

Saturday, May 25, 2013

In my last Blog,
we read about the Devil or Satan in the Christian and Islamic mythologies. This
does not mean that the Satan in some form or the other did not exist in any
other mythologies or cultures. Let us look at Mara, the Satan in Buddhist mythology.

It would be
pertinent to mention that Mara is not a permanent devilish character in
Buddhist mythology. He presents himself at an important juncture and shows its
presence and thereafter, Mara manifests itself in the form of temptation and
other vices for mankind, which again is a common form of the Devil.

Mara seems to
have tried to lure Buddha many times in different forms. The first time it
tried when Gautam (who was not the Buddha then) was leaving the gates of his
city after renouncing the world. Mara offered to make him the monarch of the
entire universe if he changed his mind of renouncing the world, but Gautam did
not heed and carried on his pursuit.

The next time we
see Mara in a more determined and fuller form. Just before Gautam attained
enlightenment, Mara was determined to break Gautam’s firm resolution. Mara
decided to attack Gautam with his full army with him atop an elephant. Mara’s
followers were armed with weapons and in frightening forms. They hurled their
weapons, but the same turned into flowers and dropped on the ground. Next Mara
sent whirlwinds and earthquakes, but nothing stirred Gautam. Seeing him
frustrated his children asked him the cause of such worry. Mara explained that
there was a frail man under the tree who had no weapons, no army, nothing, but
still managed to threaten the mighty Mara with his resolution of attaining
something. This could lead to his decimation, which he could not allow, but he
seemed to be unable to make any difference.

He then sent his
three daughters to seduce Gautam and lead him into a world of temptation, but
Gautam did not even feel their presence. As a final try, Mara claimed that the
place that Gautam was sitting for his penance was his and Gautam should vacate
the place immediately. As witness, Mara got his followers to echo his
statement. Gautam had no witness to his claim, so he simply let his middle
finger touch the ground, to which Mother earth roared back saying that she
stood as a witness to Gautam’s right to the spot.

Seeing this,
Mara knew that he had lost. However, not the one to give up easily, it is said
that Mara called for rains to pour down heavily on Gautam. But the king of
serpents who wanted Gautam to succeed came to his rescue. It coiled down under
him to raise him above the mud and waters and spread its broad hood above
Gautam to allow him to meditate. With this Mara knew that he had lost and he
left the place with his followers.

A 12th Century Cambodian Bronze depicting Buddha sheltered by the Naga

It is said that
Gautam was now at peace and his meditation continued for about forty-nine days,
after which he attained enlightenment and he became the Buddha.

The concept of
an evil being in mythology is a common factor. The intense clash with the devil
or evil beings in mythology helps to refine the hero’s character and the glory
at the end of it aids in the process of deification. In the case of Mara, he is
personification of all the negative elements in human life, prime among them
being temptation. According to Buddhists texts, Mara also means the end of
spiritual life or spirituality.

In one of the
texts detailing the above event, Mara’s army is said to consist of lust,
hunger, thirst, craving, doubt, cowardice, etc. His three daughters who were
sent to seduce Gautam had the ability to take different forms to lure and charm.
Some texts have mentioned five daughters of Mara, whose names meant, attraction, aversion,
delusion, pride and fear. Here Mara is nothing but the different temptations
which lead man to all sorts of trouble.

Another interesting aspect of
this myth is the support Buddha gets from the earth and the serpent, both of
which are prominent Hindu deities. Many feel that the
character of Mara was based on the Vedic demon, Namuci. This entire episode in the life of Buddha, blends well with
the mythological tract of a hero’s clash with the evil, as well as blend with
the Hindu elements of aid coming from other minor Hindu deities in the quest
for enlightenment.

Monday, May 20, 2013

In the world of mythology (and sometimes theology) all creation has
been credited to the primeval entity, the Creator. All that we see, the
universe, the earth, the rivers, mountains, plants, animals, man, have been
created by the creator, whom we will refer as God. Sounds great. This brings
forth a debate though – if everything was created by god, then did he also
create evil and the Devil?

If god created everything so beautiful, why did he have to pepper it
with a devil and his home, the hell?

This brings me to an interesting Christian myth known as the fall of the angels. Before God sent his
chosen son to the earth, Lucifer was an angel in the kingdom of God. Lucifer
was of the opinion that he was the most favoured amongst all the angels, till
the day, when God ordained that Christ, his son, was equal to him and would
also be the chosen one amongst all to lead God’s mission.

Lucifer was disappointed and saw the elevation of Christ as an
unfair gesture on the part of God. Lucifer’s discontent with God soon gathered
momentum into a rebellion by a small group of angels led by him. The others
tried to pacify Lucifer and reason out that if God had chosen his son to lead, then
there was nothing wrong in it, but Lucifer and his followers would not listen.
Soon the matter reached God and his Son and matters came to a confrontation.

It is said that God threw Lucifer and his angels out of his kingdom
and thus the term – fall of angels. It is the same Lucifer who then became
Satan or the Devil.

A similar example is found in Islam. According to Islam, the
character similar to Lucifer was Iblis. However, Iblis was not an angel, but a
Jinn. According to Islam, angels were servants of god and could never disobey
Him, but Jinn’s were like humans who could make choices (to follow the right
path or not, or to obey or not). Iblis’s crime was that he had refused to bow
before Adam. For this he was banished from Jannat,
heaven and thus he became Shaitaan or
the Devil. It is said that from day onwards, Shaitaan took upon him to create mischief for God’s creation by
leading him into temptation and commit sin; the creation which god was so proud
of.

So coming back to the first question, did god create Satan/Shaitaan?
Did he not have in him the power of destroying this evil, instead of just
throwing him out of his kingdom?

Lucifer in Latin means the ‘morning star’ or the planet Venus. It is
called the morning star as it heralds the advent of morning. If this sounds
ironic for a character who is characterised by darkness and all things
negative, then herein lies the message. Lucifer was an angel, but Satan is the
devil. This might imply, that there is both good and evil in man, it is only
which one finds prominence in the personality. If man has the choice, then what
choice should he exercise – to be good or to be evil?

Philosophers say that the Creator did not want to create followers,
who had no choice but to praise him. Along with man, He created conscience and
free will. Man has the choice and depending on his faculties and the ability to
choose, he chooses the path of righteousness or evil. Lucifer had the choice of
being loyal to God and be an angel, but he chose to rebel and become Satan.

For the religious, this is a debate of God vs. Satan. For the rationalist,
this is a debate of good vs. evil or right vs. wrong. Whatever it be, one thing
is for sure, the greatness of good gets highlighted only in the awareness of
what is bad. If you have not burnt your hand, you wouldn’t know what it feels
like when you run cold water over the burn.

But one final question. Why does evil befall even to those who
choose the path of righteousness? If one has made the right choice, then why
does he go through ‘hell’? Why do innocent people who choose the path of god or
goodness, have to suffer in the hands of evil? Why do the evil gain prominence
to such an extent that one wonders, who is more powerful, go(o)d or evil? It
must have been this dilemma, which must have made one of the inmates at a
German concentration camp write on the walls before he was sent to the gas
chambers – “If there is a God, He must beg my forgiveness one day”!*

Finally, around last month
some Italian archaeologists have discovered the ruins of some ancient
mythological cave in Turkey, believed to be the ‘Gate to Hell’, which has been
emitting poisonous carbon fumes. It was known as Plutonium, or Pluto’s Gate, is
a portal to the underworld, in the Graeco-Roman mythology. For more on this: “Discovered: Mythical â€˜gate to hellâ€™ emitting deadly fumes...)

*The
quote is taken from an article from Spiritual Atheist, The Economic Times.

About Me

Utkarsh has qualifications in Mythology, both Indian and World from Mumbai University. He is also a faculty on the subject of Comparative Mythology, at the Mumbai University, India. Utkarsh is also a regular trainer and lecturer on varying subjects at private organisations and educational institutions.

Utkarsh has more than 2 decades of experience in Sales and Business Development of IT products and solutions. He has worked with some of the well known IT organisations, some being start-ups, in India. Utkarsh is also a regular trainer and lecturer on varying subjects at private organisations and educational institutions.

Besides his Blog he is also a content provider to a few portals on similar subjects. Some of his short stories have been published in the well known literary story Blog, called LITIZEN. Utkarsh has also written a book on the subject of mythological-fiction, and working on another one, both of which are expected to be published in the next few months.